On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 5:09:21 PM UTC-6, John Cochrane wrote:
So, it's time to fess up. I have used flarm tactically in contests. I enjoyed it. And I think it increases, not decreases, the "spirit" of the sport..

I totally agree.

We need better Flarm/ADS-B coverage (situational awareness), not less. Glider racing has gotten so lonely it's boring. A lot of rules but not racing - which explains the popularity of OLC.

When I race, I want to RACE (see definition in another excellent post).
And IMO, in the perfect race, everyone would use the same thermals, on the same task, and finish within seconds of each other. That would be a test of soaring skill, not of luck, weather guessing, and local knowledge.

Of course, hardware would count. It does now, so what.

And gaggles would be a problem if everybody started at once - so split up the pack into groups of 3 -5 gliders and give them a short start interval, and have multiple winners each day...

We used to have fun races in AZ where the first guy out of the start called the first turnpoint, and the last guy there called the next - the point being to keep the pack together (regardless of handicap) and have fun racing each other all the way to the final glide. Not sure how you would score it for real, but it beat the hell out of boring area tasks!

Kirk
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